The big match of the day on Saturday takes place in Palo Alto as #22 Stanford hosts #18 Cal in the “Big Slam” Part 1. This will be a non-conference matchup with the official conference matchup taking place in Berkeley on April 16. Last season the teams met three times with Stanford taking two of the three by winning at Cal and in Ojai in the Pac-12 semis.
Cal is coming off a tremendous pair of wins over #3 TCU and #24 Texas while Stanford is coming off gut wrenching losses to those same two teams.
Preview from The Daily Californian
#18 California (4-1) at #22 Stanford (5-3) – 4pm est/1pm pst – Live Scoring/Video – It’s interesting to note that 11 of the 12 projected singles starters are ranked inside the top 125.
Doubles Records: Cal 3-2; Stanford 6-2
Projected Singles Lineup (w UTR as of 2/20)
1. #4 Andre Goransson (Cal 14.33) vs. #3 Tom Fawcett (ST 14.75)
2. #36 Florian Lakat (Cal 13.96) vs. #90 David Wilczynski (ST 13.80)
3. #32 Billy Griffith (Cal 13.92) vs. #72 Nolan Paige (ST 13.32)
4. Filip Bergevi (Cal 14.13) vs. #113 Sameer Kumar (ST 13.99)
5. #63 Oskar Wikberg (Cal 13.59) vs. #106 Maciek Romanowicz (ST 13.44)
6. #116 JT Nishimura (Cal 13.51) vs. #119 Michael Genender (ST 13.35)
1. Goransson vs. Fawcett – Goransson got roughed up in his last match against TCU’s Cameron Norrie while Fawcett is coming off back-to-back wins over Norrie and Texas’s George Goldhoff. Fawcett is a perfect 7-0 in dual-match play and has only dropped one set while Goransson is 2-2. As you can see from below they each won once last season with the final meeting going unfinished.
Last Season H2H:
Goransson vs. Fawcett 6-3, 3-6, 6-6 (3-3) unfinished at Ojai on 4/24/15
Goransson def Fawcett 7-5, 6-0 at Stanford on 4/18/15
Fawcett def. Goransson 6-2, 6-4 at Cal on 2/21/15
Fawcett should get the win at home but it’s possible Goransson turns it around after a less than satisfactory weekend in Austin two weeks ago. Prediction: Fawcett (ST) in 2
2. Lakat vs. Wilczynski – Lakat is coming off a dominating 6-2, 6-2 thrashing over TCU’s Alex Rybakov while Wilczynski lost to both Rybakov and Texas’s Harrison Scott in his last two matches. Lakat transferred from Mississippi State to Cal over the summer so they didn’t meet last season but they did play in the fall with Wilczynski winning 6-2, 6-4 indoors in the USTA/ITA Northwest Regional. Lakat is 2-1 in dual-match play while Wilczynski is 2-3. Prediction: Lakat (Cal) in 2
3. Griffith vs. Paige – Griffith is 3-0 in dual-match play and is coming off wins over TCU’s Guillermo Nunez and Texas’s Adrian Ortiz while Paige is 4-3 and is coming off tough losses to Nunez and Ortiz. These guys played twice last season, both at #5, with each coming from behind to win a second set tiebreak and a close third set.
Last Season H2H:
Paige def. Griffith 2-6, 7-6(3), 7-5 at Ojai on 4/24/15
Griffith def. Paige 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 at Stanford on 4/18/15
Griffith has been playing better as of late so I think he’ll continue his strong play and get another win today. Prediction: Griffith (Cal) in 3
4. Bergevi vs. Kumar – Bergevi is 4-0 in dual-match play and has yet to drop a set after whipping Texas’s Rodrigo Banzer and TCU’s Jerry Lopez two weeks ago while Kumar is 7-0 and has only dropped one set in a match that went unfinished with Jerry Lopez. This should be a great match but I like the experienced Bergevi to get the win. Prediction: Bergevi (Cal) in 3
5. Wikberg vs. Romanowicz – Wikberg is 3-0 in dual-match play but is coming off a pair of matches that went unfinished against TCU’s Eduardo Nava (6-4, 5-5) and Texas’s Michael Riechmann (up 3-2 in 3rd) while Romanwicz has won three straight after beating Texas’s Michael Riechmann and TCU’s Trey Daniel. Romanowicz beat Wikberg 6-3, 6-4 back in October at the USTA/ITA Northwest Regional. Prediction: Wikberg (Cal) in 3
6. Nishimura vs. Genender – Nishimura is 1-1 on the season, with 2 unfinished matches, and is coming off a win over TCU’s Reese Stalder while Genender is 3-3 and is coming off back-to-back losses to TCU’s Eduardo Nava and Texas’s Julian Zlobinsky. Prediction: Genender (ST) in 2
Stanford dropped the doubles point the last two times out but I think they’ll be refocused and will take the early 1-0 lead. I like Tom Fawcett and Michael Genender in singles for the Cardinal but I’ll take Florian Lakat, Billy Griffith, Filip Bergevi, and Oskar Wikberg for the Bears. Prediction: Cal 4-3
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